Warm Embracing Dance Away
by Written Fire
Summary: A small collection of one-shots set to Frank Sinatra songs. Enjoy! First one-shot: Arthur's getting married; Merlin can do nothing but wish him happiness while his heart slowly breaks. Second one-shot: With the help of their friends, Arthur is finally going to ask that important question.
1. I'm All For You (Body and Soul)

_So, here's my first posting of the new year! Yay! It's, as the description says, a small collection of one-shots set to Frank Sinatra songs :) It's for my best friend and favorite fish, Turtle! :D_

_So I was going to have a long sweet message here (as you know, fish) buuuut I have an idea for that so instead I'm just going to say this..._

_Turtle, you are my best friend and honestly, I don't know what I did to deserve a friend like you. I hope that this new year treats you well, and good luck this semester at college. I know you'll do great :) I love you, and I hope that you enjoy your (very late) Christmas gift!_

**Disclaimer: I do not own Merlin, or Body and Soul by Frank Sinatra!**

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_**I'm All For You (Body and Soul)**_

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This wasn't how it was supposed to happen, he was sure. Surely destiny couldn't be this cruel? Why would it want him to be alone for the rest of his life? Gently spreading out Arthur's bedding, Merlin sighed. Today was a day he wasn't sure he could survive; after months of planning and weeks of preparation, the day of the royal wedding had finally happened.

It was a hectic day, but one filled with such _excitement_. No matter how much he wanted his friends to be happy, he couldn't help how his heart was slowly breaking. As hard as he had tried to fight it, he wasn't able to stop himself from falling in love with the Prat he was destined to protect. He forever seemed to fall for those he could not have. First Freya, beautiful Freya, and now Arthur, the King of Camelot, someone so wonderful and out of his reach.

With shaky hands Merlin smoothed out the last imperfection, trying his hardest not to think of what was going to happen there, later that night. If not for the fact that Arthur didn't know about his feelings, Merlin would accuse the man of purposefully trying to hurt him. Why else would he require Merlin to do all these last minute preparations for his wedding night with Gwen?

He shook his head at the stupidity of his thoughts, turning on his heel to walk out of the room. The reason why he was in charge of that was because of his position as Arthur's manservant and the fact that despite their stations they were best friends. Ironically, the young warlock was the person that the King trusted most. Merlin was never sure how to feel about that. Scrubbing a hand over his face he fought back his emotions, focusing instead on what tasks he was likely to be set once he reached the kitchen. Damn, but he couldn't wait until this was _over_.

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_I can't be here anymore._

The moment the thought entered the young man's head, he was setting his wine goblet down, putting his years' worth of sneaking around skills to use to leave the room full of merry makers unnoticed. Once he was halls away from the room, the sounds of celebrations dimming, he ran. Without a care to how it must look, without a thought, he ran, losing himself to the motion, and the way the cool air stung his face, slowly seeping into his clothes.

Before long he found himself at the east tower, slowing in speed until he was standing at the edge, panting as he leaned against the stone wall. This was going to be harder than he thought. Could he really stand to see them dote on each other, all day and night? He didn't know if his heart could take it. So caught up in his anguish he didn't notice that someone had found him until a heavy hand landed on his shoulder, drawing him out of his head with a jolt.

Jumping at the touch he spun around, his already pounding heart beating faster when he was who it was.

"Arthur! Why are you out here? Where's Gwen?" he questioned, glancing behind him to see if he could spot the new Queen. Seeing no one he turned back to face him, a brow raised in query.

"She's inside. What are you doing out here, Merlin?" he asked, his voice softer than Merlin had ever heard it before.

"Just…getting some fresh air, is all." He turned back to the wall, arms resting on top as he gazed at the forest, the trees closer here than anywhere else in the castle. Beside him he felt Arthur copy his stance; glancing from the corner of his eye he found startling blue eyes already looking at him. Blushing from the intensity he found in that gaze, he dropped his eyes to his arms, noting almost distantly how his fingers were curling into a tight fist.

"What are you doing out here, Arthur? Shouldn't you be celebrating with your new wife and the rest of the kingdom?" he tried to keep the emotion out of his voice, but knew he failed from the way his King's brow furrowed ever so slightly.

"It's not much a celebration without you there." Shocked, Merlin's head whipped around, eyes widened in his surprise. "What's the matter, Merlin?"

Mouth opening in an instant negative, the young warlock found himself pausing; Arthur was being uncharacteristically open, shouldn't he do the same? "I'm fine, Arthur. It's nothing I can't handle." He said softly, a small, ad smile gracing his lips briefly.

"You know…you know you can tell me anything, right?"

Those words combined with the vulnerable, open expression on his handsome face were like a stab to the heart, even while he found himself warmed by the sincerity he saw.

"I do, sire. Just as you can trust me." Seeing how his words relaxed him, probably setting to ease an unrest he hadn't been aware of, Merlin decided to toss caution to the wind and give himself tonight to do something he knew he never would dare to do again.

Taking a deep breath as he gathered his courage, Merlin turned, placing one hand on Arthur's shoulder, the other resting tentatively on his cheek. Ignoring the curiosity that he could feel in the blonde's gaze he leaned in pressing his lips gently to the corner of his mouth. Eyes closed for those few precious moments, Merlin took everything in that he could; the heat he could feel even through his clothes, the slight scrap of stubble beneath his palm and the softness of his skin. He committed it all to memory, knowing that he would relive this moment time and again.

Pulling back enough just to press his cheek to his, Merlin could not stop the soft, sad sigh. "Goodnight, Arthur." He let his full affection be heard, knowing it startled him by the soft gasp Arthur gave. "And congratulations, sire." He took a small moment more to soak it all in then stepped away, hands slowly falling away as he placed space between them. Then, without looking over at his King to see his reaction, he walked away, waiting until he was halfway back to his quarters to let his tears fall.

No matter what happened, loving Arthur was something he would never regret.

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_Soo this was unintentionally angsty. Whoops. I'll hopefully be starting the next one-shot tonight, which looks like it might be a bit smutty. Just, what even._

_aha anyways, thank you for reading and I hope that you liked it!_

_Let me know what you think? :)_

_Ohh, and, PS, there's a link to my tumblr in my bio! And also, there's a poll up as well! I'd appreciate if you would go vote~  
_


	2. In Other Words, I Love You

_And here is the second one-shot to the four part collection! It took a long time to come out, which I'm sorry about Turtle! It's also not the smutty one I thought would come next. Oh well. That'll come eventually!_

_Hope that you like it :)_

_Also, this is un-beta'd so any mistake is my own! _

**Disclaimer: I do not own Merlin, or Fly Me To The Moon (In Other Words) by Frank Sinatra!**

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**_In Other Words, I Love You_**

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It had been five years, and being with Merlin still felt new, still made him weak at the knees and sent his pulse racing with the slightest glance, each little touch. He would never tire of him, would never be bored. Arthur could not tell you what had first drawn him to the thin klutz, what made him decide to turn their tentative friendship into this heated romance.

Whatever it was, though, he was glad that it had happened.

It was all thanks to his friend Gwen that they had met; one day she had dragged him with her to their weekly dinner, introducing him to the group with a bright grin, fingers wrapped gently but firmly around his wrist so that he could not escape. His flushed cheeks, shy grin, and bright blue eyes endeared him to everyone quickly; by the end of the night he was laughing with them all as if they were old friends, numbers being exchanged with plans to meet up again, and soon.

Of everyone there, Arthur was the only one who did not have such an instant connection. Despite all the attempts to help them develop the sort of bond they all _knew _that they could have if they were to only _try,_ they never moved past the 'sort of-friends; well, he's a _friend_ of a friend' stage of their companionship.

It wasn't until their accidental meeting outside of a coffee shop that they started to become close. It was a timid friendship—there was really no other way to describe it—and was that way until that day that their lips had first met. It was not the most perfect first kiss, teeth clacking and a nervous giggle still permeating the air, but it was _theirs_, and that was all that mattered.

They didn't share the news of their relationship, at first; not wanting to deal with the way their friends would gloat, trying to keep the glow of a new relationship for as long as they could. Not until a few weeks in did anyone notice a change, how they would lean into each other's touches, the small intimate smiles that are reserved for your special someone.

As expected they were told how their friends has just known that they would find something special in one another, how if they had just listened to them then they would have been together a whole lot sooner than they were! They ignored them, not needing their input to know that there were months wasted apart that they could have spent happy together. It didn't take long until they were telling them that they were nauseatingly cute together, something that they didn't understand because they were not acting like Gwen and Lancelot when they had first gotten together, thank you very much.

Falling in love was something that snuck up on them—one day they were content, thinking that things were just fine at the slow pace they were moving, and the next they realized that without their noticing they had become everything to each other. Not long after that they moved into a new place together, not wanting to force each other to move into a place that would feel more like his, than theirs. Why make something difficult when they could so easily find somewhere that would suit both of them? They had seen what the decision over my place or yours had done to Morgana and Leon's relationship.

It had taken months before they got their heads out of their asses and found a compromise that made them both happy; things had been unbearably awkward while they figured things out.

Things weren't always perfect between them. They had their share of fights, of those moments of uncertainty and times when they had to step away and stay with a friend for a week or so, however long it took for them to be able to handle things calmly and not say something unforgivable. There was the disapproval of Uther hanging over their heads, the woman he tried to set Arthur with, his attempts at driving Merlin away.

Those hard, cold months after he had passed, where Arthur almost succeeded in doing what his father had spent years trying to do.

No, things were not always perfect. But they dealt with it, fought for each other and only made their relationship—the connection between them—all the more stronger.

It was not until five years in that Arthur Pendragon was able to do what he had thought about since the moment he had won his Merlin back, since he had realized that he could not survive without him forever by his side.

The first person he had told his plans to was Morgana. She had been the one to make him see what an idiot he had been, to show him that if he did not clean his act up that he would finally do the one thing he had sworn he would never do for this father. He felt he owed it to her, that and she was the only family he had left in the world.

Once she had calmed down over the news, Gwen had been told and between the three of them they had found the perfect ring for Merlin. Once that was done, and it was hidden somewhere in his sister's house where his boyfriend would never find it—somewhere Arthur was suspecting was her underwear drawer, in all honesty—the rest of their group was told, including Merlin's mother Hunith, because she would be of assistance in his plans to surprise him.

A week later found Merlin going to Hunith's to spend some quality mother and son bonding time together, parting with a heated kiss to apologize for having to go away on their anniversary weekend. In Merlin's eyes, it was an unfortunate event that he could not say no to despite how badly he wanted to; he never could turn down his mother when she asked him to come visit, not after everything they had gone through while he was growing up.

But for everyone else, it was the perfect excuse to get him away for the day without him becoming suspicious.

By the time Merlin was due back the next day everything was prepared, set up just the way that Arthur had wanted. He was dressed to impress for their anniversary dinner, ring safely tucked away in his inside jacket pocket. Though they were just doing a quiet, romantic evening at home, Merlin had said that he wished for them to be dressed nice to make the evening even more special.

Well, Arthur had just the thing to give the night that extra bit of special his love had so desired.

Thanks to all the help he had had, the dinner went off without a hitch, the candle lit meal charming Merlin so greatly that it earned Arthur an enthusiastic kiss hello. When the meal was done and old romantic songs were playing softly on the radio as they slow danced in their candlelit living room, the two told each other how much they felt for one another, voices an intimate whisper.

It was after they had shared a tender kiss that Arthur asked the question, their foreheads pressed to one another, looking into his deep blue eyes that were still watery from their words before, the slightest quiver to his voice telling of his nerves. It only took Merlin a moment to give his emotion filled answer, a single tear escaping to roll down his cheek. Just a moment, to make Arthur the happiest man alive.

"_Yes."_

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_I actually rather like this one. :)_

_I have a poll up on my profile, if you wouldn't mind voting? Also, there's a link to my tumblr up on my profile as well!_

_Leave a review? :) See you guys next time!_


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